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------He was returning from a mission with decent success. He intended to seek out Gabriel or Faol to deliver his reports, but he would need to find them, first. Presumably one or both would be near their den, especially with the children about. His paws carried him quickly and easily through the forests of the Waste toward the plains. He rather enjoyed that region--the tall tan stalks of grass provided excellent cover for the coppery male. Ever vigilant, his red eyes darted about and his ears twisted this way and that, registering any and every animal that dared to sound its presence. A faint rustle was found to be a squirrel foraging on the forest floor. Ahead, a doe and her fawn spotted him and began to run in the other direction, and their bodies could be heard crashing through the brush for some time. He ignored them, not hungry and uninterested.
------Before very long he neared the part of the Waste specifically set aside for Inferni. Highly territorial, he made a habit of pointing out the borders whenever he could. For a long time this only encompassed the area immediately surrounding his den, but now all of Inferni was here and the scope of his "home" had expanded. As such, here he paused to relieve himself--one leg lifted high and he sprinkled a tree with his urine. At another nearby, he stood on his back legs and raked his thick nails down the bark of a tall oak several times to leave a visual mark. Satisfied with his work, the hybrid now leapt back from the tree and landed easily on the ground, before turning about and preparing to enter Inferni to find his leaders.
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*got tired of waiting* Sorry you had to wait as well ^^;
Umbra was heading west. Why? Because he'd learned that most wolves were gathered around there, and if he wanted to find like-minded wolves, he'd better head for where the wolves were. For the past hour or so, he'd been following the borders of someone's claimed territory, not wanting to enter or call attention to himself since his intention wasn't to trespass or ask to join. He wanted to get more information first.
He paused for a moment at seeing another wolf, marking its presence on the territory borders. Well, damn. So much for avoiding attention. But now that he'd run into another wolf, he might as well ask around a little.
"Hello there," he said, trotting closer. He'd been making sure to keep outside any territory markings he'd seen, so he wasn't too worried. Yet, they were only a few steps away from the other's home, so politeness was still a good thing. "I'm sorry if I interrupt anything, but I've been making my way west, and... Well, it would be kind if you could tell me how much farther south this territory reaches.
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> -Guesses they're at the part of the Waste near the Dampwoods?- xX;
------The stench of a foreigner wafted over the breeze and invaded his nostrils, and he snorted softly as a suburbanite might at the smell of a freshly fertilised field in the country. He turned just in time to see a pitch black wolf approaching, who hastened to address him. Anselm always had a bit of an unrealistic (though not entirely unfounded) bitterness toward such situations (that is, anybody trying to talk to him). Regardless, he had enough sense to realise that others couldn't magically teleport themselves around Inferni's territory and he saw that the stranger was at least being respectful. Furthermore, he didn't seem intent on passing by the obvious boundary markings. Good.
------"Fifteen miles," he answered indifferently, although his crimson eyes remained focused on the other wolf. What are you going to do about it? he wondered to himself. It was a bit of a hike for one hoping to go through quickly. A golden ear flicked to the side--would he really have to trail this guy just to make sure that he did what he was supposed to? A first glance suggested that everything was hunky dory. Then again, there was some saying to the effect that those with a guilty conscious are paranoid--if he went around innocently asking for information, regarding boundaries appropriately, all with an ulterior motive... what meant that this guy wasn't doing the same thing? [/html]
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Yeah, somewhere along the middle of that diagonal east border, was what I figured should be about right *ponders making a map of Umbra's travels*.
Fifteen miles? Umbra converted that to days. Well, it was still in a south-westerly direction, so it wasn't that much of a problem. "Thank you," he therefore said, nodding and trying not to be unnerved by the other's stare. It wasn't quite a challenging stare, but still not friendly. Then again, it wasn't too surprising, what with him being a stranger and all. "You wouldn't happen to know of any other loners?" he asked, wondering to himself how he would alleviate the other's worries. Should he ask what kind of pack this wolf was part of? No, not quite yet. "My name's Umbra," he said instead, giving out some information of his own to put himself at a slight disadvantage. "And I'm tired of being on my own, so I'm trying to find some companions. I was told that many had headed west, so I thought that would be the best place to go, but perhaps you know something new?"
After all, there was no guarantee that Tawny's information had been correct. Or even that he'd been honest. You never knew with coyotes and those shape-shifting non-wolves. Certainly, they'd hunted well together, and no doubt Tawny's sudden change of size had helped, but it was still uncanny. Before that had happened, he'd been of a mind to ask Tawny if the older canine had wanted to accompany him westwards, but after...? No, it had been best to part ways. Umbra could deal with short meetings like that, but to spend longer than necessary with one of those? No, thank you.
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> A map would be cool. :o -Likes making stupid maps.- My other character used to have a greenhouse and I felt obliged to make a map/diagram of the area. xD
------The onyx wolf's question had been answered, and silently Anselm wished that he would leave. Instead, more words were tossed his way, and whether he liked it or not, his ears were forced to gobble them up. Perhaps it was a blessing, or maybe a curse, but for his life he could not block out another wolf's voice. The slightest whisper was enough to rouse him from the deepest slumber, and even when presented with annoying company that babbled on incessantly about nonsense, he couldn't tune it out. He had to process everything first, run it through multiple filters, verify that it was indeed useless, and then finally tuck it away in the furthest recesses of his mind. Even then, these conversations could be recalled in the future (given enough prodding in that direction, of course).
------Then again, Umbra was still asking legitimate questions that embodied legitimate concerns (i.e. directions), so he didn't fall into the "Oh god I want you to shut up now" category. He then asked about the other packs in the area--something Anselm had made his personal goal to study, although so far he'd only examined Twilight Vale in any detail. He said and did nothing in response to the thanks, although he now occasionally took a second to glance at other things around them, rather than ogling the dark male constantly. The name enticed a flick of his ear in acknowledgement, although he'd be damned if he'd give out his name in return (or at least his real one). But as for the other packs? Yeah, whatever.
------"A lot of wolves are scattered around here; they were displaced by a fire, and most of them didn't stay with their original packs. So there are a lot of loners, but some have already banded together to form packs." His own thoughts on this matter were kept to himself. "Anyway, you've already gone pretty far west, and at this point, that I know of, there is one to the east, and another two south west." He said nothing about Inferni, where the black wolf currently was--his kind wouldn't be welcome here, but saying as much would probably raise more questions than it would answer. [/html]
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I always make floor-plans of my characters' living arrangement XD
...and I seriously couldn't think of anything more for Umbra to say... unless you know of anything, or want a fight ^_~ otherwise this will be a...kinda short thread? o.o
East? Umbra couldn't help but look back the way he'd come, biting back a curse. Had he missed someone? No, he couldn't have. So it had to have been east of where he'd met Tawny. But he should have heard the howling... Unless it had been too far off? Hm. Maybe. But south-west? That was an idea. Like Anselm, he didn't consider this pack; since the other wolf hadn't mentioned it, Umbra assumed that they either didn't welcome new pack members or had their own special criteria for new members.
"Thank you," he said again, looking back to the other -- well, the other's paws to be exact. Manners were important, and he didn't want to arouse the aggression he'd sensed a hint of before. Not that he was weak -- he'd recently eaten, and had regained his strength after running from the fire -- but he wasn't interested in fighting now, and not this close to the borders of the other combatant's territory. "Perhaps going south won't be such a bad idea, after all."
There was an odd tinge to the other wolf's scent. It reminded him of Tawny, and that made him a little uneasy. He couldn't quite pinpoint what it was, however, so he simply filed it away for later examination. Perhaps it would make sense later. At the moment, however, he was busy trying to remember if there was anything else he'd do well to ask, but he came up blank.
"Your help has been most kind," he therefore continued. "Perhaps we'll meet again some day." And with that, he turned to leave.
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[html] http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s304 ... d/rawr.png); background-repeat:no-repeat; padding-top:160px; background-position:top center; background-color:#FEFEFE"> Short interactions are fine, besides, in the future it will make him less likely to be annoyed with Umbra. XD He actually has a half-decent opinion on him right now. :X
------In his own twisted view on how the world worked, he couldn't imagine anybody really wanting to associate with the coyotes. Their clan was born out of a burden society placed on the underdogs and the misfits--they had to band together to survive. There was strength in numbers, and when everyone was just as fucked up or hated as you, you didn't feel discriminated against. Nobody normal or pretty or pure would want anything to do with them, or so he bitterly thought. Maybe some pure-bred wolf psychopath hell-bent on mass murder would be interested in applying, but even then, he wasn't sure that his cousin would go for it. Frankly, if they weren't related and they couldn't scratch each other's backs, Anselm wasn't convinced Gabriel would have even let him into Inferni's ranks. Amongst liberals, he could pass for a wolf.
------These cynical tangents that perpetually raced through his mind made him all the more surprised (and slightly confused) by Umbra's persisting... niceness and politeness. The black wolf thanked him and called him kind (which flat out didn't make sense), and the bronze wolf struggled as his mind flip-flopped between some sort of instinctual desire for companionship and his usual intense paranoia when it came to the prospect of trusting or befriending another canine. Fortunately, before he could think too much on the subject, Umbra took his leave. A thoughtful "Perhaps" was all he offered in response to the wolf's departure, although his voice was less grated and irritated than usual. Maybe this new crew of wolves to arrive wasn't as bad as those he dealt and fought with in his childhood and adolescence? Maybe, but one okay experience was not going to erase the innumerable negatives from the past. [/html]
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